Editorial Asks, “Are Corvettes Too Fast for Public Roads?”

A lot about the world doesn’t make sense. Luckily, we live in the great nation of the United States of America, where even the most outlandish opinions and ideas can find an audience. That doesn’t necessarily mean they are good ideas, or that they always make sense. But at least we have the right as citizens of this nation to make our opinions known – and disagree with the opinions of others.

So when we first read Mark Taylor’s piece declaring that Corvettes are too fast, and have no place on public roads, we cringed. But then we read deeper into his Roanoke Times blog, and found ourselves nodding in agreement. Why? Read on to find out.

Taylor starts out his piece by explaining how, during a lumbering 1,200 mile journey in his Toyota Tundra, he was passed by numerous Corvettes. He wonders aloud how a 400 horsepower machine that is capable of reaching 150 MPH in its base form could possibly be legal on the street. People must be dying left and right, he says, even though all the accidents he saw on his journey involved much slower cars and big trucks. Ban high performance cars and you solve the problem, right?

Taylor then move the discussion to a new law in Virginia that states that localities can not prohibit people from firing air guns on their own property. He cites a piece by Dan Casey, who uses as an example of the power of air guns the $1,300 Benjamin Rogue .357 air rifle, which he claims can “drop a boar from 200 yards.” Casey then cites a recent crime spree where 59 car windows have been taken out with an air gun, and says that people should be barred from firing air rifles on their own property, for the good of everyone.

Taylor takes issue with Casey’s piece, explaining that citing a very limited production rifle as cause to ban air guns is like Taylor saying that all performance cars (like the Corvette) should be banned because a few people get into high speed accidents with them. See what he did there? He made a point, using ‘Vettes as an example. We suggest you read both pieces in their entirety before forming an opinion, but we’re going to take Taylor’s side on this one.